I've been investigating the fact that Nokia Maps' online searching (for example, for full UK postcodes) is currently broken - a spokesman for Nokia said "We are aware of the problem and are working to get it fixed as soon as possible". More data points would be welcome - do full postcode searches work in your country at the moment?

Finland....no, and yes...the post codes in Finland are numeric, so we can't type them in (numeric keys are used for short cuts in the maps application)...but if I type in a letter first, then the post code, then delete the letter, then it works. Putting 'finland' first seems to work.

Same for Chinese post codes - they're numbers only, so I have to enter some random letter first. I have to enter the country too 'china', of course. If I try to put the country first then the number, which would mean I don't have to do the hack of entering a random letter to get into the text field, then it works ok.

If I try a UK post code, it works if I join the post code into one string, rather than having a space between the two set of 3 as is customary; oh, and add 'uk'. Yes, it chops the last two letters of the code off, just like someone else mentioned :/ Putting 'uk' first works in this case too.

To be honest, the new update of GMaps is so much quicker and better at delivering accurate results, I've not touched Maps for months. Too slow to start and a pain in the ar$e to search. Post code searching has been wonky on it for ages - only accepting 4 digits/letters rather than the full 6 for example. The only thing going for it is the downloadable content which saves me a pretty penny abroad - but that's about it...

For more data points, looked up some UK postcodes on Nokia Maps on a 5800 and it has the same problem of cutting off the last two letters.

I wouldn't get this out of proportion though. Postcodes in the UK are usually specific to a particular street, but in many (most?) other countries they're for general areas, so they wouldn't be that useful for navigational purposes. For example in Finland the postcode denotes the number of your local post office, so all the people served by that post office would have the same post code.

I just looked up my own area's postcode in Finland, which works perfectly by the way, and it covers hundreds of streets. There's no way that I would use a postcode for route-planning in this country.

Quote:

Too slow to start

I'm not sure what device you're using, but Nokia Maps is a lot faster on the 5800 than it used to be on my N95.

Just timed it: Nokia Maps 2 on my 5800 loads up in about 3 seconds after pressing the icon, phone mast lock 10 seconds after pressing the icon, GPS lock in 30 to 40 seconds after pressing the icon (and that's a lock while indoors near a window).

Hmm... maybe this is the problem? Just wondering if the UK postcode problem is because of their unusual length, can someone help verify this?

Most countries seem to use a 5 digit code:

12345

but the UK mostly uses a 6 digit code with a gap in the middle, taking up seven spaces

AB1 2CD

If you count the gap as a character, that makes seven digits in all.

AB1-2CD

Seven minus five is two, so perhaps the Nokia Maps server is trying to make a seven digit UK code fit into a five digit slot, and ending up with this:

AB1-2

and if we take the hyphen out it becomes

AB1 2

...which looks very much like the glitchy postcodes we've been seeing. If I'm right then longer UK post codes should have even more characters missing from the end, and a maximum of five characters undisturbed at the beginning.

Yes, shadamehr is right, and I am wrong, so I will enjoy some tasty humble pie.

From Universal Postal Union site:
The postcode will be in one of the six following formats. 'A' represents a letter of the alphabet and 'N' a digit:
Format Example
AN NAA M2 5BQ
ANN NAA M34 4AB
AAN NAA CR0 2YR
AANN NAA DN16 9AA
ANA NAA W1A 4ZZ
AANA NAA EC1A 1HQ
There is only one exception to these formats: GIR 0AA.

So the UK does NOT have a standard format as such for postcode layout, or length, as they use a few different formats, and can be seven OR eight digits long, including the gap in the middle.

You're absolutely right that there's no absolute formula that covers them all, but there are two things they have in common:

-They all have a gap in the middle

-They're all six or more characters long including the gap in the middle

As most other countries' postcodes use five characters, it could be that an assumption of five characters is the problem in Nokia Maps' database.

And as I said above, this would fit in with the last two characters missing from UK postcodes in the form XXX XXX. However, it doesn't fit in with the last two missing from those in the form XX XXX, so maybe this theory isn't true?

Yes, shadamehr is right, and I am wrong, so I will enjoy some tasty humble pie.

From Universal Postal Union site:
The postcode will be in one of the six following formats. 'A' represents a letter of the alphabet and 'N' a digit:
Format Example
AN NAA M2 5BQ
ANN NAA M34 4AB
AAN NAA CR0 2YR
AANN NAA DN16 9AA
ANA NAA W1A 4ZZ
AANA NAA EC1A 1HQ
There is only one exception to these formats: GIR 0AA.

Willamoni,

No humble pie eating required, rest assured. Indeed your follow up was most helpful and comprehensive, as there were many there I missed too, including the single character standard postcode: M2 5BQ

So thanks for such a handy full list.

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Now on to my 71st mobile handset since my first ever Ericsson (not S.E.) GA688, with the advent of my new HTC Desire Android phone, as Symbian was just too old now (after 67 Nokias)...

ok so the postcode search doesnt work properly and its great news that they are trying to fix it, in the mean time just search addresses. Every address i put in (street and number) finds the house i want exactly on the map, dead easy.